How To Store Your Negatives And Slides To Maximize Their Shelf Life - June 28, 2008 -

Whether you are still shooting film now, or you have many years' worth of negatives and slides sitting in a shoebox in the attic, the basement or the garage, it is time to organize and restructure your filing system. We often have some of our greatest photos stored with the rest of the "have-nots" in the less then desirable environmental conditions.

While more modern negatives and slides are very durable, and can stand the heat so to speak, nothing lasts for ever.

Film has many enemies when it is improperly stored. Moisture, heat, UV light, chemicals, acids, all affect the life of your film. There are many things you can do to prevent the exposure of your valuable film to any and all of these factors. First, lets talk moisture... Keep in mind, that any unventilated area tends to accumulate moisture, which does not necessarily affect your film directly, but it does lead to growth of mold, and encourages growth and proliferation of other micro-organisms. Film does contain organic compounds, traces of which may be of interest to micro-organisms. Of course, mold can grow on your film, and you certainly do not want that. Film should never be stored in shoe boxes, or other cardboard boxes not specifically built for film storage.

Scratches, exposure to heat and UV also decreases the longevity of your film. We all know that scratched film is not ever desired. We want to make sure that we get spotless, sharp scans every time, unfortunately scratches, unlike dust are much harder to remove. Exposure to UV causes long term damage to a lot of plastics, and synthetic materials from which film is made. UV causes color shits, and discoloration. Both UV and heat cause your film to curl up and even grow bulges, which will prevent flawless scans, or enlargements. It is easy to keep your film away from both. Simply avoid leaving your film where it will be exposed to sunlight, and any sources of heat, like a furnace, an AC, a water heater, etc. This is quite easy to do. It is a good practice to keep your film in an environment where air is well circulated, and the temperatures are fairly constant. Needless to say, film should be stored flat, and not folded, or rolled.

There are many products on the market today intended to preserve your negatives and slides. Different people find different products to meet their needs. However, after looking at several products on the market, I prefer Acid-free filing pages over the rest. There are several significant advantages to using them. First of all, these pages are Acid-free, and they keep your film safely sealed away from the rest of the world. The pages are meant to be filed in a standard 3 ring binder, which gives you a lot of flexibility due to the many different types and styles of 3 ring binders on the market. The biggest advantage to me is the ease of locating individual images. every page allows you to add labeling info, and you can number them, and create an index if you are really organized. These pages are available for many different film formats. All standard formats, like 35mm, 120, 220, 4x5, and even 8x10 are covered. Several vendors make this product. I am partial to Print-File brand, and Adorama brand. Both are quite affordable, and are well worth it. The film is well protected, yet easy to pull out. These pages are made of durable synthetic materials, and will last for a long, long time.

We do not know the value of things until we lose them. Protect your film, and it will last for many years.

Written by Professional Photographer, who recently started an Online Photographer Community, to allow photographers freedom to share their most favorite shooting locations, regardless of the subject matter and place. Consider joining this community, if you would like to contribute your favorite locations, as well as discover new places from other members. To learn more, please visit http://www.worldonpaper.com/

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